James Holmes' Lawyers Want Evidence Gathered From His Car Thrown Out

Bomb Techs Explain Why They Searched Holmes' Car
CENTENNIAL, CO - JUNE 04: James Holmes, left, and his defense attorney, Daniel King, in court Tuesday morning June 04, 2013 for an advisement hearing at the Arapahoe County Justice Center. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in a shooting rampage at an Aurora theater, July 20th, 2012. The court accepted James Holmes plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and has ordered a sanity evaluation at the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo. (Photo By Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
CENTENNIAL, CO - JUNE 04: James Holmes, left, and his defense attorney, Daniel King, in court Tuesday morning June 04, 2013 for an advisement hearing at the Arapahoe County Justice Center. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in a shooting rampage at an Aurora theater, July 20th, 2012. The court accepted James Holmes plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and has ordered a sanity evaluation at the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo. (Photo By Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Police officials testified on Wednesday that the concern about whether or not explosives were inside Aurora theater shooting suspect James Homes' car was so high that a bomb squad commander ran from a device that turned out to be a false alarm.

According to a report by The Associated Press, Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department bomb squad commander Richard Anselmi said he ran when he saw a laser beam that he he worried would trigger a bomb. However, no explosives were found in Holmes' car.

"We need to expect, in this type of situation, a number of different threats," Anselmi testified in court.

After initially putting Holmes in the back of a police car, an officer testified that he was taken back out to be searched again because he appeared to be fidgeting. During the second search, his wallet was taken and Holmes' defense is also fighting to keep that evidence from trial because it was obtained without a search warrant.

In Holmes' white Hyundai hatchback some of the items found included an iPhone, black gloves, a ski mask, a doorstop, metal spikes, a handgun, an empty rifle case, ammunition magazines and a gasoline can.

Since authorities had previously testified that Holmes had confessed to there being explosives in his apartment immediately after his arrest, bomb squad members testified that the car was searched for bombs without first obtaining a warrant.

After the car was determined not to be rigged, detectives actually ended up obtaining two warrants because the first one expired while authorities were processing other evidence.

On Tuesday Holmes' defense argued that anything Holmes told detectives before they read his Miranda rights -- during an approximately two-hour period -- should be inadmissible. In addition, his lawyers argue that a warrant to search Holmes' computers did not extablish probable cause.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 and injuring 70 others at an Aurora movie theater and the trial is slated to begin in February.

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Rebecca Ann Wingo

The Aurora Theater Shooting Victims

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